Medieval Literature

Welcome to our page dedicated to Medieval literature, a field ripe with different genres, traditions and forms. On the one hand, the Medieval period produced motifs and images of profound religious gravity, as with Dante's Comedia, yet it also produced some of the most enduring popular story forms in the knightly or courtly romances that troubadours would carry with them from town to town. Apart from these. we also have great innovations in poetic form, philosophical writing, epic adventure and more

The material below is divided into several general categories: there are sections for early Church writing and devotional literature, Northern epic, Jewish and Islamic Literature, courtly tales and more. There are specific sections for the two individuals who may be the most important medieval writers in the Western canon: Dante Alighieri and Geoffrey Chaucer. We look forward to adding new resources and even our own lesson series in the very near future, so we hope you find cause to visit often.